Saith the Mountaineer:

Those with questions about affordable health insurance options available at the Affordable Care Act Marketplace or Medicare Extra Help are invited to join in-person Certified Marketplace Navigators (ACA) SHIIP Counselors (Medicare) for a free information session from 9 a.m. to noon Thursday, Nov. 5, at the Senior Resource Center, 81 Elmwood Way, Waynesville.

I have a question. How can we get rid of Obamacare? Now?

Another important service is to help those who qualify, file for exemptions from the penalty for not having coverage during the year. The penalty for not having insurance in 2015 is $325.00 per adult or 2 percent of household income, whichever is greater. The penalty for not having coverage in 2016 goes up to $695 per adult or 2.5 percent of household income, whichever is greater.

It goes like this: You can’t afford insurance, so you pay the penalty. Then, you have to work three shifts to pay taxes and get hurt. You go to the hospital, and staff decides they can give you every cardiopulmonary test in the book because your foot hurts too much to cry, ‘Overutilization!” You don’t get treated, but you’re made to feel small because you don’t have Obamacare and you choose sleep instead of “choppin’ up fresh vegetables” every night. And now you must work four shifts to pay the bill.

The article doesn’t estimate ranges for how much hard costs will be for non-low-income persons to get sucked into the matrix.